Metropolitan Opera broadcasts continue on Classical 90.5 at 11:00 a.m. this Saturday, December 26, with a performance of The Barber of Seville by Gioachino Rossini, set to an Italian libretto by Cesare Sterbini.
High spirits return for the holidays in the Met’s family-friendly, English-language, two-hour adaptation of one of opera’s most endearing comedies.
Pierre Beaumarchais’s play Le Barbier de Séville, the basis for the opera, was revolutionary. Set in the "present day,” which placed it just before the French Revolution, the work unveiled the hypocrisies of powerful people and the sneaky methods that workers devise to deal with them.
Rossini’s perfectly honed treasure survived a famously disastrous opening night (caused by factions and local politics more than any reaction to the work itself) to become what may be the world’s most popular comic opera. Several of its most recognizable melodies have entered the general musical unconscious, most notably the introductory patter song of the swaggering Figaro, the barber of the title. The opera offers superb opportunities for all the vocalists, exciting ensemble composition, and a natural flair for breezy comedy that has scarcely been equaled since.
Bartlett Sher’s effervescent production of Rossini’s tuneful masterpiece stars the charming mezzo-soprano Isabel Leonard, revisiting her portrayal of Rosina, the girl who behaves perfectly—until anyone gets in her way. Antony Walker conducts.
THE CAST
Rosina: Isabel Leonard
Count Almaviva: Taylor Staton
Figaro: Elliot Madore
Dr. Bartolo: Valeriano Lanchas
Don Basilio: Robert Pomakov
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